Hans-Georg Brum

€2,500 for the Ehrenmal restoration project

November 26, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

More than 2,500 Euro were raised on “Volkstrauertag” – the German equivalent of Remembrance Sunday – by a concert held in the Christuskirche Church to support the restoration of the “Ehrenmal” – the war memorial dedicated to those from Oberursel who lost their lives in the First World War.

Before the concert got underway, the manager of the Ursella-Foundation, Dr. Justus Förschner, explained the current state of the monument, which has been stabilised by filling the hollow base and column with cement. He also went into detail of why it will take some time for the pieces of the mosaic to be re-applied, work that is to be undertaken by a special company from Eppstein (Matthias Steyer). He believes that the work will be finished by the spring of next year. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Christuskirche, Dr. Christoph Müllerleile, Dr. Justus Förschner, Ehrenmal, Hans-Georg Brum, Kai von Schauroth, Lina von Schauroth, Reiner Göpfert, restoration

Can the bus drivers save the kiosk from closure?

November 22, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

A bus in front of the kiosk at Oberursel’s main station

The workers’ council (“Betriebsrat”) representing local bus drivers handed in a petition containing 100 signatures to the Mayor of Oberursel, Hans-Georg Brum, against the closure of the kiosk at the town’s main station.

The kiosk is due to close in the middle of December as part of the re-development of the station area, leaving the drivers without a public toilet to use on their routes. The toilets at the station are too far away, either to leave the bus unattended or for the amount of time that the drivers have when they stop here.

The kiosk serves around 300 people every day, many of whom are waiting for buses or the U-Bahn trains, and has itself collected approximately 1,300 signatures. “How many signatures does it take before the town’s administration takes notice?”, asked Christoph Alles who runs the kiosk with his wife Daniela.

Filed Under: Other News, Photos Tagged With: Bus, Christoph Alles, Daniela Alles, Drivers, Hans-Georg Brum, kiosk, Mayor, Petition, signatures, Workers Council

Nikolas Alt wins “Fair-Trade football”

November 15, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

During the “Culture stage in the Allee” event back in June the Fairtrade Town steering group had an information stand with a number of Fairtrade products as well as information leaflets.

They also had a “Fußballtorwand” – a wall with two holes in to that you try to kick a football through. This was covered with information about how child labour is used to make sports articles.

A fairtrade football was raffled off amongst all those who had a go at getting the ball through the hole, and the winner was 11-year-old Nikolas Alt, who was presented with the football by Dr. Johannes Bickel (left) of the steering group and Mayor Hans-Georg Brum (right). Also in the photo are Nicole Schüppenhauer and Jens Gessner from the town’s environment, conservation and energy department.

Filed Under: Other News, Photos Tagged With: Dr. Johannes Bickel, Fairtrade, Football, Hans-Georg Brum, Jens Gessner, Nicole Schüppenhauer, Nikolas Alt

50 Years of Local History

November 9, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

50 years ago – on 28th November 1962 to be precise, a group of friends met in the hall of the primary school “Nord” and formed the “Verein für Geschichte und Heimatkunde Oberursel e.V.”, or in English: the local history society. And last Saturday many of those friends and other members of the society came together again to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

Only this time they were not in the hall of the primary school, but instead in the council chamber at the town hall, where they were welcomed by the current chairperson of the society, Marion Unger.

The first speech was held by Dr. Christoph Müllerleile, himself a member since 1965. He confirmed that the society has the support of the town’s administration, but also the support of its members, making it exemplary in the area. With a hint to the current budget talks he added “of all the voluntary services that may be cut, the society would be one of the last”. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: 50th Anniversary, Bert Worbs, Bundesverdienstkreuz, Dr. Christoph Müllerleile, Dr. Fabian Vogt, Hans-Georg Brum, history, Marion Unger, Professor Dr. Barbara Doelemeyer, Reinhard Michel, society, Ursella, Verein für Geschichte und Heimatkunde Oberursel e.V.

Gymnasium Oberursel – A Grammar School with a Future

November 7, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

For the past few years there has been a building site in the Berliner Straße while work was carried out on the Grammar School (Gymnasium). At times the road was closed to traffic or narrowed. The pupils were split across three locations. And I learnt a new word – the green strips on the dark grey façade are called “Einsprengsel”.

But now the work is over and the school proudly opened up their new buildings to the public last Saturday, during which the key was ceremoniously handed over by the architects.

The morning began with the headmaster, Volker Räuber, welcoming the guests and highlighting the positive aspects of the new buildings: more space, modern IT connections to allow children to carry on working on projects at home, a large hall with professional sound and lighting, a media library, and three underground sports courts. “Oberursel Grammar School is a school of the future”, he said, continuing “some other schools in the area can only dream of buildings like these”. He also thanked the neighbours for their patience during the building phase. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Berliner Strasse, Daniel Dere, Grammar School, Gymnasium, Hans-Georg Brum, Jan Hertel, Martin Müller, Mechthild Fischer, Roland Gehlen, Tim Denninger, Ulrich Krebs, v-architekten gmbh, Volker Räuber

Ask the people what they want!

November 4, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

Last month in Oberursel the draft version of the town’s budget for the year 2013 was published, including the details of how it will need to spend more than it earns in taxes and other fees.

It is clear that savings need to be made and a “Haushaltssicherungskonzept” needs to be developed. But where can the town raise taxes or cut services without alienating the population?

That is probably one of the most difficult questions that a town administration faces, so maybe that is the reason why – for the first time – the town’s residents where invited to a “Bürgerversammlung” at the town hall to discuss precisely that. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Andreas Heinze, Budget, Bürgerversammlung, Christof Fink, Christoph Müllerleile, discussion, Elvira Schimanski-Sippel, Hans-Georg Brum, Haushaltssicherungskonzept, Michael Noll, savings plan, tax, Town

Fotos erzählen Geschichten – Photos tell stories

October 13, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

An exhibition of photographs taken by members of the Photo-Cirkel in Oberursel is currently on display at the town’s library.

Each of the photos or photo sets tells a story, hence the title of the exhibition, such as the hunting pelican, or “from corn to bread”.

It was officially opened on Friday, 12th October, by the leader of the circle, Günter Albrecht, with Mayor Hans-Georg Brum and the chairman of the culture circle Lothar M. Wachter, and was accompanied by music played by Björn Grün and Stefan Heller.

The photos can be viewed during the normal opening times of the library until Wednesday, 31st October, 2012. These are:

Tuesday-Saturday 10am-1pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 3pm-6pm
Thursday 3pm-7pm

The photographers are: Reinhart Stoll, Günter Albrecht, Harro Peschmann, Manfred Opitz, Marlene Bode, Christian J. Weill, Hans Peter Lipp, Christa Schwermann, Carrie Haub and Brigitte Lehmann.

(Click to enlarge)

Filed Under: Other News, Photos Tagged With: Björn Grün, Brigitte Lehmann, Carrie Haub, Christa Schwermann, Christian J. Weill, exhibition, Günter Albrecht, Hans Peter Lipp, Hans-Georg Brum, Harro Peschmann, Library, Lothar M. Wachter, Maasgrund, Manfred Opitz, Marlene Bode, opening, pelican, photo, Photo-Cirkel, Reinhart Stoll, snail, Stefan Heller, Vernissage

A new bench at the market square for 50 years of the local history society

October 2, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

A new bench was inaugurated in front of the Vortaunusmuseum yesterday by Marion Unger, chairwoman of the Oberursel Local History Society (Verein für Geschichte und Heimatkunde) and Mayor Hans-Georg Brum.

They were accompanied by Renate Messer from the museum and format chairman Dr. Karl-F. Rittershofer.

The society is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and decided to donate the bench at the market square. The plaque was donated by local metal specialist Dirk Velte.

An exhibition about the society’s work is on display at the town hall until Saturday, 3rd November, 2012.

(Click to enlarge)

Filed Under: Other News, Photos Tagged With: bench, Dirk Velte, Dr. Karl-F. Rittershofer, Hans-Georg Brum, local history, Marion Unger, Marktplatz, Renate Messer, Verein für Geschichte und Heimatkunde, Vortaunusmuseum

Oberursel is a Fairtrade Town

September 19, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

Oberursel is now officially a “Fairtrade Town”. The certificate confirming this was presented on Saturday during the autumn market (Herbsttreiben) by TransFair’s ambassador Manfred Holz to Mayor Hans-Georg Brum and the Fokus-O Chairman Michael Reuter.

To get this far the town has spent the last six months bringing together businesses, politicians and members of the community to promote “fair trade” goods, and is the first town in Hochtaunuskreis to by archieve this. Local shops office the products for sale and café and restaurants serve them as well.

It is also a requirement that local schools, clubs and churches use “fair trade” products and educate people about them. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Fairtrade, Fokus-O, Hans-Georg Brum, Manfred Holz, Michael Reuter, Town, TransFair

Oberursel’s new network of volunteers

September 17, 2012 By Graham Tappenden

One of the problems that many clubs and charities face is finding new members and volunteers to keep them running. This is often put down to the fact that there are so many of them that those that want to do something are spread more thinly among them, but there are other factors as well, such as a change of lifestyle and flexible working times, meaning that many who would like to volunteer their services want to do so without making long-term commitments.

This was something that become obvious in Oberursel last year during the Hessentag when a large number of residents volunteered to help for certain times during the 10 days that the event ran for.

Recognising this, the town set up the “Netzwerk Bürgerengagement” – a network to bring people who would like to volunteer to do something short-term with organisations looking for volunteers. And on Saturday morning the network’s new office in the Georg-Hieronymi-Saal (Oberhöchstädter Str. 7) was officially opened. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Bürgerengagement, Dr. Christoph Müllerleile, Ehrenamt, Georg-Hieronymi-Saal, Hans-Georg Brum, Landesehrenamtsbüro, Manuela Eich, Margit Fell, network, Oberhoechstaedter Strasse, Stephan Würz, volunteers